ACT News Update

One man's vision teaches children to hope again

Geneva, February 12, 2004--Sometimes all it takes is one person with vision.

Seven years of war have left the Oriental Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo with overwhelming needs - high numbers of malnourished children, inadequate health care and lack of access to education. It is a part of the DRC that has largely been forgotten by most of the world due to its isolation and complete lack of infrastructure.

As the people of this region struggle to rebuild their lives, they face extreme hardship in an environment where needs far outstrip humanitarian assistance. But sometimes the worst of times brings out the best in people, and leaders emerge who work tirelessly and selflessly to improve their communities.

Mr. Okunabo, as he's known in his community, lives in the village of Batende, 72 kilometers (45 miles) from Kisangani. Okunabo was a teacher at a primary public school on the outskirts of Kisangani. When teachers stopped receiving salaries at the beginning of the war, he was forced to return to his village, where he took up farming to support his wife and three children.

Seeing that the war had also caused the disruption of education for many children, Okunabo took the initiative to resuscitate his village's school. "I voluntarily improvised teaching in Batende Primary School, initiated by the parents and the local Methodist Church," he says.

The school now has a headmaster, and Okunabo continues as one of its teachers. It has grown to 185 students from ages six to 15. Children ages six to ten are taught together. As a result of his leadership, the school operates on a self-help basis thanks to parents' contributions, according to Okunabo.

Members of the global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) International are providing humanitarian assistance in the Oriental Province that includes rehabilitation of primary schools. Three schools in the Kisangani District have been rehabilitated so far. This has meant the construction or rehabilitation of three classrooms in each school, providing furniture, teaching material, bicycles for teachers, and building a latrine block and functioning water source for the schools.

This work, implemented by the Lutheran World Federation - Democratic Republic of Congo/Rwanda, an ACT member, and its partner, the Church of Christ in the Congo, stimulated parents, teachers and communities to strengthen their participation and commitment to the schools. The response of local partners and churches, communities, parents and children to this assistance was overwhelming. An additional two schools were slated for rehabilitation under ACT appeal AFDC32, which was issued in September 2003.

At Batende Primary School, one of Okunabo's students is Mudimbi Salumu, a 10-year-old boy. "My parents do their best to send me to school," he says. "They pay my school fees and provide me with books."

Now Okunabo's vision has become a vision for others. Students who have returned to school in this forgotten part of the world are not only learning to read and write. They are also learning to dream and hope again. Mudimbi explains that students learn while sitting in the shade of palm trees. However, he points out, the palm leaves are insufficient for shelter for a class during the rainy season, which lasts six months a year in this region. His wish? A roof for his school.

(Information provided by Thomas van Kampen, Lutheran World Federation World Service Rwanda/Democratic Republic of Congo)

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